A furious father is considering legal action after his telephone was plagued with adult chatlines.

John Moorhouse had to ban his two sons from using the telephone at his Chelmsford home because every time they went to pick it up they would hear X-rated adult sex lines.

Crossed connections meant the Moorhouses, of Cusak Road, couldn't make a call without regularly finding conversations involving callers talking on premium rate lines aimed at over-18s.

Mr Moorhouse had to stop his two sons, 16-year-old James and Luke,11, from making calls until phone company Telewest fixed the fault.

Mr Moorhouse said: "What would have happened if the kids had picked it up? It's not nice if a child picks up the phone and someone's on there talking to an adult chatline.

"It's absolutely atrocious. It was happening four or five times a day."

He added: "I've noted down all the calls that came in. It was an invasion of our privacy."

Jennie Dresser from Telewest Communications said: "Basically it's quite complicated, technical stuff. There are two different wires and if they get mixed up that's when this happens.

"When the line was installed on December 15 it was cross-connected. It was resolved on December 20. Mr Moorhouse will get what amounts to £70 or £80 in compensation."

But angry Mr Moorhouse has described the offer as "a pittance".

Keith Martin, head of customer services for the firm, said: "We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to Mr Moorhouse and his family.

"When a problem arises, even if only one customer is affected, we do all we can to resolve it as quickly as possible, and we ensure lessons are learnt.

"On this occasion, as soon as the problem was identified, an immediate investigation was undertaken by our engineers and the necessary corrective measures were put in place."

Outraged - John and Janice Moorhouse with son Luke.

Picture: STEVE ARGENT

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